• October 12  Speaker: Rev. Ben Burton
  This Sunday: Cultivating Compassion: Where Did It Go?
  October 12  Service Auction: Silent and Live Auctions; Lunch
  and NEW: Children’s Halloween Party!
• October 16 CLCM Coat Drive
• October 17-18 Ministerial Start Up Workshop
• October 18 Earth Walk – join the First U Team!
• Adult RE – 10am Click here for opportunities
• Children’s RE – Following the Moment for All Ages.
  Click here for class descriptions.

FYI: Major Road Construction: Plan Alternate Routes as Needed
The following ramps will be closed from 8pm Friday, October 10, through 5am Monday, October 13:

• I-71 South to I-65 South
• I-64 West to I-65 South

Click here to learn detailed information about these projects, detours and upcoming plans.

NEW: Time to get Spooky!
Halloween Party October 12th during the church auction! 
Wear your costume to church and get ready to play games, do Halloween crafts, have some spooky snacks and hear some spooky stories. Kids of all ages are welcome.

• Facilitators:  Rev. David Pyle and Rev. Matthew Johnson, from UUA Mid America Region Office.
• Ministerial Start Up Workshops happen when a congregation has a new minister, as we do. Come bringing your hopes, your dreams, your memories and history.

We Have a Very Good Problem in Children’s Religious Exploration!
We are bursting at the seams!
We have so many new wonderful little ones joining us every week that we really need help in the classroom to keep everyone safe.
There are two classrooms: The Raccoon Room age 4-7, The Fox Den: grade 3 & up. We have a quickly growing population in the Raccoon Room with many 4 year olds, help is needed there especially.
Assistants do not have to plan anything, just sign up and show up that Sunday about 20 minutes early to get the plan. Parents are always welcomed to assist, but parents also really need some time to worship alone, so non-parents are encouraged to step up! Please! It’s a great way to get to know our little ones. And it really is a lot of fun.
Here is the sign-up sheet. Find a Sunday and sign up now! Thank you!!

First U Book Club: November 10
A reminder that there is no book club meeting in October; we will resume meeting on November 10 when we’ll discuss the very timely book  Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum.

Considering Matthew Shepard: October 10 and 12
The Voices of Kentuckiana choir is partnering with Actors Theatre, Highland Baptist Church and Pandora Productions to present Considering Matthew Shepard, an extraordinary choral work written by Craig Hella Johnson, at Actors Theatre of Louisville (316 W. Main St. 40202) on Friday, October 10 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, October 12 at 3:00pm. The work tells the story of Matthew Shepard, who was brutally attacked and left to die in a field in Wyoming. The performance arrives in Louisville on the heels of the 27th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and protections. For tickets and more info, click here.

Religious Book Collection
Phil Young’s granddaughter has contacted the office. Her grandfather was a member of First U before he passed two years ago. She has possession of his  large collection of new and lightly used books, almost all pertaining to the study of various religions. She is offering them before disposing of them. There are probably close to 300 books of various sizes. She is willing to help deliver. Contact the office for her information.

Coat Drive: Coat Donations Needed by Thursday, October 16
Central Louisville Community Ministries is now collecting clean, gently used winter coats for their annual coat giveaway.You can drop off your coats on Sundays, or Monday-Thursday 9:30am – 1:00pm here at First U. Help keep Louisville warm!

Save the Date: Earth Walk October 18
The 2025 Earth Walk is Saturday October 18 at 10am at beautiful Shawnee Park.  First U is a sponsor of this event, and members of the Seventh Principle Team will be staffing a table.  This 2K walk event is family-friendly, and the proceeds from the walk supports 9 environmental nonprofits. Join the First U team! Register here.

Strong Paper and Plastic Bags Needed for the Food Pantry
The food pantry volunteers pack bags and bags of groceries to be given out every week and need a lot of bags. If you shop at a store that uses paper bags, could you double-bag and grab a few extra bags and forward them to the food pantry? If you do food pick up or delivery, those strong plastic bags are also needed. As always, we need and appreciate the non-perishable food items donated every week. Place them in the blue basket. As cuts are made to safety nets, the need for food is growing.

Central Louisville Community Ministries: Bikes for Kids
Got kid bikes?  Cochran Elementary and Pedal Power are joining forces in a Bikes for Kids Christmas Drive.  They have a goal to collect 150 bikes for elementary-age children (age 5-11).  Do you have any no-longer used bikes for these children? Your donations can be dropped off at Cochran (500 W Gaulbert Ave) or at Pedal Power (4100 Shelbyville Rd – drop outside the garage). Pedal Power will refurbish the bikes and make them available in time for the holidays to the families who have children attending Cochran.

For the zoom link, Click here. The Meeting ID is 4508929882 if you can’t attend in person.  You will not need a password. Contact the volunteer desk if you have trouble getting online.

About the Speakers

Lady Vanessa is a High Priestess of the Wica in Louisville, KY where she’s been active since 1981. Transformative and earth-centered practices are the focus of her spell work, tarot readings, rituals, and teachings. As an advocate for Pagan paths, Lady Vanessa has appeared on local media, but more often facilitates public rituals and classes through CUUPs at First Unitarian Church, Louisville Pagan Roots Festival (FKA Louisville Pagan Pride), and Clifton Unitarian Universalist Church. In addition to being a Unitarian Universalist Church member, she has a M.A.T. and holds ministerial credentials of public record through the New Wiccan Church. For fun, goodwill outreach, and charity, Lady Vanessa regularly dances with Bluegrass Black Hats.

Ron Zorn is a long-time member of First Unitarian Universalist Church and a Co-Facilitator of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) here at First U. He is also the Treasurer and Co -Chair of the National CUUPS organization on their Board of Directors. He follows an Earth-Centered Spiritual path and enjoys collecting books on a variety of religious paths that are outside of the Abrahamic faiths.

Ministerial Start Up Workshops happen when a congregation has a new minister, as we do, Rev. Liz Weber, or a new director of religious education.
Come bringing your hopes, your dreams, your memories and history.
Schedule:

• Friday, October 17th: For the entire congregation:
  Potluck in the Social Hall at 5:30pm
  Gathering in the Sanctuary at 6:30 pm till about 8:30 pm
• Saturday, October 18th: Leadership all Board Member and Ministry Leaders and Team Chairs or Leaders and Office Volunteers.
  In room 210, (also known as the Choir Room) 9:00 to noon.
• Saturday, October 18th: The Board of Trustees 
  in room 205 (also known as the Open Classroom). noon to 3:00 pm

There will be Child Care for these events, we ask that if you need child care please contact the church office and reserve.  We want to have the appropriate number of child care staff.

Bring items to share for the Potluck.  Jane and Tim Buckley will be preparing extra Chickpea Salad and Chicken Salad for those who have work and other obligations and find it impossible to provide a potluck offering. We are interested in everyone attending this event.

Children’s RE    contact Loren
Children’s RE begins in the sanctuary at 11:00 with the Moment for Ages. They leave during the Song for the Children.

• Click here for Fall Children’s Classes and Registration Forms. Registration information is required for each child, including those in the nursery.

The Nursery will be open for babies and pre-k  from 9:30am-12:15pm on Sundays.

• All are Welcome: Members, friends, visitors, curious people, and people lost in the building are all welcome.
• Attend the earlier session at 9:15, the later one at 9:45 or both!

The Anti-Racism Challenge (ARC) returns.
The ARC is sponsored by Listen. Learn. Act. – Register here to get the e-mail information about ARC activities for the next four Fridays (Oct. 3, 10, 17, and 24) We will explore ways we can lean into anti-racist practices and thinking collectively…and we will also come together to process together our individual efforts and explorations. We’ll poke at the racism all around us, from food deserts to incarceration and beyond. You can subscribe to the four weekly ARC e-mails via Listen. Learn. Act. If you have suggestions for our own First U ARC activities, share them with Alexis, Jim and Matt.

Sunday Schedule

• 9:15 – 9:45 – Anti-Racism Potluck – It’s not a potluck, as in food, but each week, we will tackle one of the items on the Anti-Racism Challenge and do it collaboratively. (There’s no telling what it will be until you walk in the door, but it will be something from the weekly ARC e-mails.) Register for topics and activities.
• 9:45 – 10:00 – Checking-In – As always, we’ll have our check-ins to catch up with one another
• 10:00 – 10:45 – Our Regular Sunday Session – As always, we’ll have something prepared – and for this month it will be topics (see below) that tie back to the Anti-Racism Challenge.

The weekly topics at 10am (Don’t forget to register!)

• October 12 – Food Insecurity and Sustainable Farming
  A tip of the hat to Lennie Hay for arranging to have a stellar pair of guest presenters, Dawn Riley and Rhona Kamar (founder of Feed Louisville), to give our group an overview and assessment of food insecurity and sustainable farming responses in our area.
• October 19 – Following the Money: Immigrant Detention in Kentucky
  Kyle Ellison has put together a comprehensive multi-media presentation that tracks the greed and profitability that is bound up in amassing human bodies inside cages – with little care or interest in sorting out good neighbors from bad actors because all brown bodies are equated with green money.
• October 26 – Environmental Justice and the Right to Clean Water
  Climate change responses are inextricably tied to racialized injustice. Access to clean water is inextricably tied to racialized injustice. The environment has been exploited and mistreated much like we’ve treated Black people – and it typically comes at the greatest expense and detriment to Black people. Environmental engineer Alexis McFadden will be sounding the alarm and spelling out the anti-racist dimensions of fighting for a clean environment.

(RE) Religious Exploration  
Adult Religious Exploration – contact Jim H
Every Sunday – 10 am – in the Library / Check-ins start at 9:45

Children’s RE    Contact Loren [email protected] 
Children’s RE begins in the sanctuary at 11:00 with the Moment for Ages. They leave during the Song for the Children.

Children are NOT required to attend every Sunday—just come as you are able.

• The Nursery: Tadpoles will be open for babies and pre-k  from 9:30am-12:15pm on Sundays.
• The Raccoon Room: Pre-K – Grade 2. Room 212. Teacher: Ms. Loren & guest teachers will begin in the sanctuary with their families and then head upstairs with their teacher after the Moment for All Ages. Class ends at noon, parents will come up and get their children following the service.
• The Fox Hole: Grades 3 and up Room 202. Ms. Christina & guest teachers will begin in the sanctuary with their families and then head upstairs with their teacher after the Moment for All Ages. Class ends at noon, parents will come up and get their children following the service.
• Youth Group: Grades 5 and Up We hope to meet on a regular basis at the church and around town.

Please complete a registration form for each child, including those in the nursery. Contact Loren to get an online link or see the Midweek Update.

Guns to Gardens Event Sunday, November 9 (2:00-4:00pm)
at Lynnhurst United Church of Christ; 4401 Taylor Blve. 40215
Click here for more information and a flyer.